Addiction is real. It’s like a giant wrecking ball destroying individuals, marriages, families, businesses, ministries, communities, cities and even nations. It’s wreaking havoc in the lives of people throughout this entire earth, including the body of Christ. We can see the suffering it causes within the soul, (the mind and emotions) and in the physical realm. But what the world, and often the church, refuses to address is the root of the problem: the spirit. And until the spiritual aspect of this widespread epidemic is attended to, people will continue to be enslaved to the addiction and its destructive behaviors and results.
Addiction is more than spiritual, it’s an evil spirit—a demon that has taken control of the mind and the emotions and works its evil into the physical realm of the individual and all those they come into contact with. But even though, humanly speaking, the situation looks impossible, it is not. There is hope—His name is Jesus Christ, and with Him all things are possible, including freedom from addiction.
To be free from addiction, one needs to be delivered in the name of Jesus and by the power of His blood. Why does one need to be delivered in the name of Jesus? Because according to God’s Word, “That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil. 2:10-11). And when we have the revelation that addiction is a demon, our faith can arise to the occasion and take our God-given authority in the name that is above every name and demand this evil spirit out of ourselves and/or loved ones.
Also, to be free from addiction, one needs to be delivered by the power of the blood of Jesus. Why? According to Isaiah 53:4-5 Jesus was whipped and shed His blood so we could be healed in spirit, soul and in body. When we spend the time and rightly divide the Word, we can determine that the translation of Isaiah 53:4-5 is holistic. This means the atonement, the redemptive blood of Jesus, does in fact provide spiritual, emotional and physical healing. (For a greater understanding see chapter 2, pages 33-41, in The Healing Creed.) This includes deliverance from demonic forces that come to steal, to kill and to destroy us; see John 10:10.
“Surely he has borne our grief and carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and by his stripes we are healed” (Isa. 53:4-5).
Deliverance from addictions come in all forms. It depends upon the strength and familiarity of the demon. In other words, how long has the person been walking hand-in-hand with this demon? And how far into the darkness of sinful behavior has this person willingly gone with this evil spirit?
Sometimes all it takes is a prayer of repentance and the person is free from demonic behavior, because it’s just that—ungodly behavior. But other times the demon does not want to let go of the person, because it inhabits, possesses the individual, and it’s not going to leave its abode without a spiritual fight.
Now, you notice I said a “spiritual fight”. You cannot force a demon out of someone with physical force or physical means, it’s a spiritual battle. For example, screaming at the demon or physically slapping the individual does nothing to the demon. In fact, the demon is enjoying your display of ignorance, and it wants you to make that person suffer more. It knows at that point you do not know who you are in Christ, and you are unaware of the authority in the name and in the blood of Jesus you have been given.
To force this demon to leave, you will have to create a spiritual atmosphere the demon cannot handle. This means you will have to activate spiritual weapons that are supernaturally stronger than it is.
Demons Obey the Following
1. The authority of the name of Jesus. “that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth” (Phil. 2:10).
2. The supernatural activation of the power of the blood of Christ. “But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and by his stripes we are healed” (Isa. 53:5).
3. And they will obey you when they know that you clearly understand that you have dominion over them. “Look, I give you authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy. And nothing shall by any means hurt you” (Luke 10:19).
To Create the Right Atmosphere, You Will Need To:
1. Spend time in prayer and fasting. “Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief. For truly I say to you, if you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. And nothing will be impossible for you. But this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting” (Matt. 17:20-21).
2. Activate the fruits of the Spirit: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and self-control; against such there is no law” (Gal. 5:22-23).
3. Pray in the Holy Spirit.
- You need to activate supernatural power over the enemy: “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you shall be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8).
- The Holy Spirit will pray through you what is needed: “Likewise, the Spirit helps us in our weaknesses, for we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God” (Rom. 8:26-27).
- You need to keep yourself strong throughout the entire battle: “He who speaks in an unknown tongue edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies the church” (1 Cor. 14:4).
4. And you will need to kick out the doubters and unbelievers from the place. You may actually need to leave the place that is familiar to the one possessed by the demon and bring them into your territory where hopefully is saturated with the presence of the Lord. “When Jesus came to the ruler’s house and saw the musicians and the mourners making a noise, He said to them, ‘Depart. The girl is not dead, but is sleeping.’ And they laughed Him to scorn. But when the people were put outside, He went in and took her by the hand, and the girl arose. The news of this went out into all that land” (Matt. 9:23-26).
After the Deliverance, You Will Need To:
After the deliverance has taken place you must do the following, as we are taught in Matthew 12:43-45, to keep the demons from returning:
“When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, it passes through dry places seeking rest, but finds none. Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when it comes, it finds it empty, swept, and put in order. Then it goes and brings with itself seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there. And the last state of that man is worse than the first. So shall it be also with this evil generation” (Matt. 12:43-45).
- Renew your mind and your ways as you read God’s Word. “My son, attend to my words; incline your ear to my sayings. Do not let them depart from your eyes; keep them in the midst of your heart; for they are life to those who find them, and health to all their body. Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life” (Prov. 4:20-23).
- Develop relationship with God as you pray (talk to God) in your natural language and build yourself up as you pray in the Holy Spirit. “Then you shall call upon Me, and you shall come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you” (Jer. 29:12). And again in 1 Corinthians 14:4a, “He who speaks in an unknown tongue edifies himself.”
- Keep the spiritual atmosphere clean as you listen to praise and worship music. “See then that you walk carefully, not as fools, but as wise men, making the most of the time because the days are evil. Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. Do not be drunk with wine, for that is reckless living. But be filled with the Spirit. Speak to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord. Give thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, being submissive to one another in the fear of God” (Eph. 5:15-21).
If you will work these Scriptures out to the fullest, you will find the freedom from addiction that you and your loved one so desire. {eoa}
Becky Dvorak is a prophetic healing evangelist and the author of DARE to Believe, Greater Than Magic and The Healing Creed. Visit her at authorbeckydvorak.com.
This article originally appeared at authorbeckydvorak.com.
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